Leaping Fish Pendant
Artist
Chinese
DateWestern Zhou (1100–771 BCE)
Mediumnephrite
Dimensions9.1 x 5.1 x 0.3 cm (3 9/16 x 2 x 1/8 in.)
ClassificationsCostumes and Accessories
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1955.3
Label Text2006-03-04: Leaping Fish Pendant
Nephrite / Altered nephrite
Western Zhou (ca. 1050 - 771 BCE), 11th - 9th century BCE
Museum purchases, 1955.3; 1963.106
Talismanic jade pendants were often made of small, thin jade slabs. Aristocrats used them as symbolic gifts and wore them sewn onto hats, suspended from belts, and as part of necklaces and pectorals. Since jade talismans were believed to offer protection in life and to preserve the body in burial, many have been found in tombs from the Western Zhou through Han dynasties (ca. 1050 BCE - 220 CE).
The wearing of ornaments representing animals in silhouette, simultaneously representational and abstract, was an attempt to master the forces of nature. Fish symbolized fertility and an abundant harvest, and was often used as a ceremonial offering. The pointed, slightly hooked tail of this fish-pendant suggests its additional use as a knot-picker.
The tiger (hu) pendant is rendered with incised and raised lines, in a style familiar from early bronze vessels. The tiger was a dominant totemic motif during the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 - ca. 1050 BCE) and remained a favorite protective motif through the 6th century BCE.On View
On view
